There\u2019s a reason I\u2019m always excited about Flying Lotus releases. \u00a0There\u2019s always a new element of fusion and integration that just gets my musical mind so excited. \u00a0You\u2019re Dead<\/i>, the fifth full length LP from FlyLo, crosses so many musical genres in its exploration of the inevitability of death while still maintaining flow. \u00a0Steven Ellison has created something with this album that is both frighteningly aware of the nature of life and death and simultaneously incredibly insightful and shimmering with life.<\/p>\n
Listening to You\u2019re Dead<\/i> is like sitting alone in an empty, circular room while images of death appear and swirl around you, smashing into the other images and combining into a mural of morbid beauty. \u00a0It\u2019s awe-inspiring and nearly indescribable. \u00a0It didn\u2019t scare me or smack me in the face with the reality of death, it inspired me to do something great and embrace the life that I have before death. \u00a0Death is a limit on life and FlyLo very clearly understands that. \u00a0However, instead of letting that scare and constrain him, he stares death in the face and allows it to motivate him to create something beautiful, encompassing, and life affirming. \u00a0Why be afraid when there\u2019s so much to do with life right now?<\/p>\n
In the past, Ellison has been tentative at best with the use of vocals. \u00a0The collaborations and vocals laced throughout You\u2019re Dead<\/i> make me wonder why he held back in the past. \u00a0Every collab and vocal adds depth, color, and perception to the album. \u00a0\u201cNever Catch Me (feat. Kendrick Lamar)\u201d is one of my favorite tracks to come out this year. \u00a0Kendrick\u2019s verse flows so perfectly over the signature intricacies present throughout FlyLo\u2019s work and especially in this song. \u00a0The music video also kicks serious ass, so check that out if you like this song at all. \u00a0\u201cDecent into Madness (feat. Thundercat),\u201d \u201cThe Boys Who Died In Their Sleep (feat. Captain Murphy),\u201d and \u201cYour Potential\/The Beyond (feat. Niki Randa)\u201d are all delightfully haunting.<\/p>\n
Ellison\u2019s production skills and experience shine throughout this album. \u00a0It takes a lot to successfully interweave as many different styles of music into a comprehensive album. \u00a0The theme is so clearly in the forefront of every track, yet everything is different, fresh, and new as the album spins. \u00a0It rendered me speechless the first time I listened to it. \u00a0You\u2019re Dead<\/i> is definitely on my top 10 albums list for this year.<\/p>\n
Recommended if you like: Four Tet, Hudson Mohawke, Nosaj Thing, and Kendrick Lamar<\/p>\n
Recommended tracks:\u00a0“Never Catch Me,”\u00a0“Siren Song,”\u00a0“Turtles,” and\u00a0“The Boys Who Died in Their Sleep”<\/p>\n
Reviewed by Addison McDaniel<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
There\u2019s a reason I\u2019m always excited about Flying Lotus releases. \u00a0There\u2019s always a new element of fusion and integration that just gets my musical mind so excited. \u00a0You\u2019re Dead, the fifth full length LP from FlyLo, crosses so many musical genres in its exploration of the inevitability of death while still maintaining flow. \u00a0Steven Ellison has created something with this album that is both frighteningly aware of the nature of life and death and simultaneously incredibly insightful and shimmering with […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":13,"featured_media":31989,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[15,182,3230],"tags":[2057,2368,2369],"class_list":["post-31988","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-featured-on-kjhk","category-hip-hopelectronic-rotation","category-new-music-rotation","tag-addison-mcdaniel","tag-flying-lotus","tag-youre-dead"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/kjhk.org\/web\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/10\/FlyingLotus640.jpg","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/kjhk.org\/web\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/31988","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/kjhk.org\/web\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/kjhk.org\/web\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kjhk.org\/web\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/13"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kjhk.org\/web\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=31988"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/kjhk.org\/web\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/31988\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kjhk.org\/web\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/31989"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/kjhk.org\/web\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=31988"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kjhk.org\/web\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=31988"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kjhk.org\/web\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=31988"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}